Radio producer and that…

Tag Archives: Audience

I was delighted to be asked by the Suffolk business support service ‘Menta’ to write a short introductory piece about podcasts and new businesses / start-ups recently. You can find out more about Menta here. The aim was to help inform new business owners about podcasting and make them think about whether it’s the right step for a new venture so early on in their business.

So You’re Thinking About Starting A Podcast?

Everyone’s doing it nowadays aren’t they? Podcasting is very much here to stay and there’s a podcast available on practically any subject you can think of, and even ones on things you dare not think about. But is a podcast right for you and your business?

That’s an odd question to ask but in recent years the format of what news is, against what it potentially should be, has changed a lot. A quick Google search for the definition of news tells us that it’s:

“Newly received or noteworthy information, especially about recent or important events”

or…

“A person or thing considered interesting enough to be reported in the news.”

News is something that surrounds our lives. It’s what allows us to stay connected to the world around us; whether that’s within our families and circles of friends, or something that’s happened internationally. It’s also taken on lots of different forms; local news, regional news, national news, international new, showbiz news, music news, business news… the list goes on and on, and that’s no bad thing. People that want a specific subject can get it at the touch of a button or on a 24 hour rolling news channel on TV.

The thing I’d like to get to the bottom of though, is what exactly is news in 2016?

That’s a phrase radio and every single task we do as beings on this planet lives and dies by.

Forget to buy milk. You don’t get breakfast.

Don’t plant seeds. Harvests won’t grow.

Didn’t read the map. You’ll probably get lost.

You get the idea.

Everyday I have to prepare a radio programme and everyday I have to assume that it won’t go to plan. It sounds a bit cynical to think like that, but assuming that what you’ve prepared will get you through an entire show without a hitch is not the smartest move to make.

There is absolutely no escaping this years World Cup competition in Brazil. Football’s ultimate golden prize that seems to captivate even the non-football fan, in all far flung corners of the globe.

While the majority of us will be watching England with baited breath, and wondering if ‘this is the year’, companies up and down the land are cashing in on any success they might have by giving money off TV’s the further they get into the competition…no pressure lads.

If it’s one thing that has changed since joining the radio industry, it’s the way listeners interact with their station of choice nower days. There’s Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Myspace (Is that even still going?), Blogs, E-mail, Texting, Phoning, and that little known thing called a letter. Apparently people still send those.

The question really is however, how do you make sure that you don’t leave anybody out? Do you list every single way of getting in touch every time you want some audience interaction? Do you mention a different one every time you do a link? If you are chatting with XYZ on Twitter, then do you really need to mention that it’s come from Twitter?

One of the things that works really well, in my experience, is to work with all your platforms on different levels. Let me explain…